College Completion Strategy Guide

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Strategies to Boost College Completion

What do we know about student success? These briefs synthesize research on prominent policies and programs designed to increase graduation rates.

July 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Dual Enrollment: Increasing College Access and Success Through Opportunities to Earn College Credits in High School

Tolani Britton

When high school students can enroll in college courses, they are more likely to enroll in and persist in college; however, access to such opportunities is distributed inequitably. This brief offers recommendations for increasing access to and equity in such courses for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
July 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Using Corequisite Remediation to Help Students Progress to College-Level Courses

Trey Miller, Paco Martorell

Postsecondary institutions across the country are adopting corequisite remediation—which enrolls students directly into college-level courses and provides them with aligned and concurrent support—as an alternative to stand-alone developmental (remedial) courses. This brief summarizes insights from the latest research.
June 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Helping Students Meet Basic Needs to Support Their Success

Bryce McKibben, Atif Qarni

Many college students have difficulty meeting their basic needs for food, housing, childcare, and health care, which can interfere with their ability to concentrate on their studies, remain enrolled, and eventually graduate. This brief explores the interventions that can help students meet their basic needs and the emerging evidence behind these interventions.
May 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Multiple Measures Assessment and Placement Promotes Community College Student Success

Federick Ngo, Dan Cullinan

Multiple measures assessment is a more reliable method than a single placement test to assess whether incoming students have the literacy and numeracy skills required for college-level courses. This brief summarizes the research on multiple measures assessment and offers recommendations for states interested in its implementation.
May 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Boosting College Completion Rates by Reforming Developmental Education

Susan Bickerstaff, Erika B. Lewy

A large proportion of students in public colleges are assigned to developmental education, which is intended to prepare them for college-level courses. However, research suggests that colleges’ typical developmental education policies may hinder students’ academic progress. Here are three recommendations for reforming developmental education based on a decade of research. 
May 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Career Pathways: A Strategy to Boost College Completion and Economic Mobility

Julie Strawn

Career pathways programs, which offer education and training in targeted industry sectors, have emerged as a strategy colleges can use to help people earn credentials and obtain jobs with family-sustaining wages. This brief offers recommendations drawn from rigorous research for how states and colleges can implement effective career pathways programs. 
April 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Comprehensive Approaches to Student Success: An Evidence-Based Approach to Increasing College Completion

Alexander Mayer, Kate Tromble

Research demonstrates that states and colleges can dramatically increase graduation rates, despite the considerable hurdles many students face. This brief shares recommendations based on one of the strongest bodies of evidence in higher education: research on multiyear programs that combine high-intensity advising, financial aid, and real-time data.
April 2022 | Strategies to Boost College Completion

Advising as a Strategy for Achieving Equitable Student Outcomes

Alexa Wesley Chamberlain, Amelia Parnell

Holistic advising (which offers students personalized, seamless, and timely support) is critical for increasing college persistence. However, adopting holistic advising means committing to collaborative, data-informed, and student-centered decision-making—which requires resources. This brief offers recommendations for how states and colleges can make these targeted investments to serve students more effectively.

Supporters

We are grateful to the following organizations for their generous support of the College Completion Fund Project, which includes the work described here and additional work related to the College Completion Fund.

Arnold Ventures
Ascendium Education Group
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
ECMC Foundation
The Joyce Foundation
The Kresge Foundation
Lumina Foundation

Contact

Interested in learning more about the College Completion Strategy Guide or the College Completion Fund Project? Email us at [email protected].